John jambs royle



O JAMES R Q E M N HE T GREAT'BMTA N- i i :IVI'MPROVYEMENT iu's -eAM-TA-Psj;

spaifiae faaa part o'f Letier5rstent No. iss'Aiiiguat u Miah'1a1e77;applioation filed To all whom it may concern; p v

Be it known that 1;, JOHN JAMES itoYLE, of

the city of Manchester, in the county of Lan- -'aster, Kingdom of GreatBritain and Ireland,

following ,is a specification b l l The essential feature of my steamtrap for have invented a Steam-Trapyof' which the discharging air andwater. of, condensation from vessels containingsteam consists in theemployment of. anopeubottomed condensingchamber, (hereinafter called thecondensingchamber,) fitted to rise and fall in a suitable reservoir ofwater, (herein after called the reservoir.) Steam is admitted bysuitable means into and beneath such condensing-chamber, and thebuoyancy thus obtained isj employed to actuate the necessary cock orvalve in one direction, while the condensation constantly taking placewithinsuchcondensing-chamber istakenadvantageof to actuate such cock orvalve in the contrarydirectionts i The. principle upon which anyinvention;is based willbe best understood by a considera tion ofDiagrams 1 and 2, where a is an openbottomed vessel, which I call thecondensing-chamber, arrangedtorise and fall1. in a reservoir of water,b, in a somewhat; similar manner as gas holder. The top of thiscondensing-cham-ber is connected to any convenient form of valve or tap0 upon the pipe 01,

the construction or such tap or valve being immaterial so long as it iscapable of being opened and closed by the rise and fall of thecondensing-chamber a in the reservoir b.

If the apparatus is to be used for discharging water of condensationfrom steam-pipes or other vessels containing steam, the tap or valve 0is connected to such vessel by the pipe 01, and the outlet end of thepipe at carried up into the interior of the condensing-chamber a.

In Diagram 1 the condensing-chamber a is shown in its lowest position,the tap or, valve 0 being open and the apparatus ready for action. Ifthere be any water of condensation in the steam-pipe d, or other vesselto which the apparatus is attached, such water flows out through theopen tap or valve 0 into the interior of the condensing-chamber a; butas such condensing-chamber is without bottom, the water enterin g itsimply adds to the quantity of Water already contained in thereservioi'r b, the overflow-waterescaping by the pipe c, Assoonyhowever, asall the water has been discharged, the steam\vhichffollows accumulates within the condensing-chain ber 04, graduallydisplacing-the water contained therein through the open bottom into thereservoir b, and down theovertlow-pipe 6, until such condensing-chamberj becomes buoyant, when'itvrises to the posit-ion indicated in DiagramZ, and so closes the taper valve 0. Now, as there is always a s ightvcondensation. of stea n'taking place within the condensingchainber a,such co n(lensing chamber con stantly, tends to fall in the reservoir1), and open .the tapor valve c to a sufficient extent to supply theloss. if any water of condensation should now collect in the pipe (1,and this necessary supply of steam be cut'oli' thereby, thecondensmg'chamber gradually falls and opens the tap or valve 0 untilsuch water of condensation has beendischarged and the steam againarrives, when the condensing chamber rises oncemore to its formerposition; Y i Wlll -.p 1OQ66(lt0 describe a form of-apparatus torcarryingr my invention intopracaa fl-" t, i- .1

Figure 1 represents a plan-view, and Fig. 2 a side sectional view, of anapparatusfor dis charging. air and water of condensation from vesselscontaining stean1, such apparatus being technically known-as asteam-trap. v :7

In all the views, A is a reservoir, whichis open to the atmosphere atthe top, but may be closed by a loose cover, B. G is a plug cook, thebody ofwhich is aflixed to the side of the reservoir A, and providedwith a surrounding steam-jacket, U, which not only insures equalexpansion throughout, and therefore easy working of the plug (3 at allpressures and temperatures, but facilitates the construction of anumberof ports, (say, by preference, two or three,) opening into andcorresponding exactly with similar ports formed in the plug 0*. By this,means a large thoroughfare is obtained through the plugcock with verylittle turning of the plug. These ports being formed at equal distancesapart around the plug,'such plug is pressed alike all round, insuringfreedom of working under pressure and equal wearing.

D is the condensing-chamber, which acts as Qa self-acting key or leverhandle for opening the clamping-nut O and washer O, and being formedhollow throughout, such plug-so opens into the interior of thecondensing-chamber D, and forms an outlet therethrough for the condensedwater to fall direct from such hollow plug into the reservoir A in thedirection of the arrow. The water in the reservoir is at the same levelboth inside and outside such condensing-chamber D, so long as itoccupies the lowest position indicated by the dotted lines, in whichposition the front port a of the V air-valve E is drawnopen by itsconnectinglink F, hinged to the end of the reservoir A.

Any air in the steam-pipes, to which the inlet end of the cock 0 isconnected, is thus free to. escape through the condensing chamber D andopen air-valveE into the outeratmosphere,

'and' the condensed water simply falls among "and adds to the quantityof water inthe reservoir A, the overplus flowing away by the outlet-pipeG. Allthe water having thusescaped, the steam which follows depressesthe level of the water under the condensing-chamber D byv accumulatingbeneath it, rendering it sufliciently buoyant to rise, and in so doingnot only shuts the air-valve E, but at the same time, by turning theplug 0 closes the plug-cock (J, and so prevents any further escape ofsteam. The subsequent action is obtainedby the condensing-chamber havinga" constant tendency to settle downin tliereservoir, owing to thecondensation of steam under it, so that should any water collect in thesteam-pipes and the small quantity of steam necessary to supply the lossby condensation 'becomecut ofi' thereby, the condensing-chamber l).gradually falls and reopens the cock 0, to permit such water to run outuntil the steam once morearrives, and so raises the condensing-chamberI) and againcloses the cock 0.

The back portc of the air-valve E ishp'ro vided for the purpose ofrelieving the condensing-chamber in case by any accident it should risetoo far. l Instead of a plug-cock it will be obvious that a valveactuated by a screwed spindle may be employed, as seen in Fig. 3, thehollow screwed spindle a being connected to the condensing-chamber D, sothat as it rises in the reservoir A the valve b is closed against itsseating, and viceversa, y

' It will thus be seen that the reservoir of my im proved steam-trap isopen to the atmosphere,

being simply closed by a loose cover, so that in case of the tap orvalve being out of order, ready, access maybe obtained to. the sameWithout loss of time. W p, i "If.

1 wish it to be understood, although I have only shown my'invention of a'condens'ingchamber as applied to actuating the pluglof a plug-cock,that itis equally applicable for rotating the body'ofa' plug-cock uponfixed horizontal plug forthesamepurpose.

I prefer to construct the condensing-chain ber hereinbefore described ofsheet metal, say

copper, and thereservoirs of cast-iron, and to insure such,condensing-chamber always falling, it should, in no case be madeabsoljutely steam-tight, a slight leakage being advantageous in permitting theescape of anyflair which may fro'm time to time come overjwith thesteam.l I'c1aim-- i i 1. An inverted condensing-chamber,'D, with the open enddownward and immersed inthe water of the reservoir, in combination withsuch reservoir, and the cooker valve opening into the interior of thecondensing-vessel, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth. a a

2'; The air valve E, in combination withthc open-bottomcondensing-chamberD and cock

